Monday 22 December 2014

A mountain bike year...

A collection of mountain bike related images from 2014.

Cotic Bfe, South Downs National Park 21st March
Cotic Bfe, Nr Hambledon, 3rd April 2014
A pair of San Andreas's, SDNP 10th April 2014
Labyrinth Agile 'Kylie', SDNP 15th April 2014
Marzocchi trip, Lake Garda, 1st May 2014
Demo Day, Afan, 17th May 2014
Marzocchi set up day, Aston Hill, 27th May 2014
Fort William World Cup. 7th June 2014
Fort William World Cup, 10th June 2014
Riding QECP with the trail builders, 2nd July2014
1993 Cannondale M800, Hardway, Gosport 19th July 2014
QECP Enduro, 27th July 2014
Transition Covert, SDNP 16th August 2014
Suisse Normandie cycling trip, 11th September 2014
Super Heroes of Suisse Normandie, 16th September 2014
Cycle Show 2014, 28th September 2014
Transition Scout first ride with MBUK at QECP, 13th November 2014
Transition Smuggler 29r, SDNP, 21st November 2014
Covert on frost, SDNP, 6th December 2014
Southsea Castle, 12th December 2014

Thursday 11 December 2014

Wheel sizes

There is nothing like a good wheel size debate to get the internet in to proper melt down. Most people either fall in to the early adopter camp or the die hard 26" camp.

Over the past year I have had some great opportunity’s to try out all three current mtb wheels sizes and here are my humble ramblings...
image via www.bikerumor.com 
I have ridden modern MTB’s properly since 1992 and I have always been an early adopter to any new technical advances. My first full suspension bike was in 1993, admittedly it wasn’t that great and I went back to hard tail, but when Proflex nailed it with the 954 I never looked back.

When it came to wheel sizes I have never been anti, just I couldn't be bothered to invest in it. Changing wheels is not like fitting a suspension fork or a disc brake, to run bigger wheels you have got to change wholesale and getting bigger hoops was just not that important to me.

I first rode 650b in Lake Garda this year and to be honest the difference is not really detectable, the bike I rode had lousy tyres and a way too narrow handle bar (not to mention euro brakes) made more of a difference to the ride. I once actually measured the rolling diameter of my 26” summer tyres and they come up as big as XC style 650b tyres, so the difference is negligible. Still, the 650 hoop like for like is bigger and you (and I) may not care too much for that but for racers that are looking for marginal gains it could mean a second or two on a run.
the 650b Pivot and cool fork decals...
29” wheels are different, there is no getting away from it they are massive! Using this type of wheel causes manufactures headaches because of wheel base, rear travel, chain stay length and seat tube positioning. There are some modern bikes that have this sussed, the Transition Smuggler being one of them and this is the bike I have spent a lot of time on.
Transition Smuggler 29"
So what did I think? Well the 29” is the size I secretly didn’t want to like, but ended up absolutely loving it. 29’rs were always a little awkward and would take some modification of your riding style to get the most out of them. Not with the Smuggler, the bike is so natural you can just get on it and ride it quick. It just feels like a bike, not even overly tight switchbacks could upset it. I enjoyed it so much it made me really think about what I actually want out of a bike.
With the 650B bike the handling and playfulness of the bike is very similar to what you like about 26”, but you will benefit from the latest designs of suspension fork and tyres. If you are looking for a complete new bike it makes complete sense to go 650b as this is where all the development is going.

26" bikes still rule
Lastly there is absolutely nothing wrong with 26” wheels and I love them! I took my 26" wheel Transition Covert to France this year and had an absolute blast.
I will say that if you want to keep running a 26" bike, don’t sweat it, full suspension bikes didn't kill hard tails and 650b won’t kill 26”. Spares won’t run out as the aftermarket potential is so huge manufactures will keep making parts if people want to buy them.

Interestingly I did some data comparisons using Stava with the 29 and 26” bikes on the same route, and the results were a little surprising. Now the data is strava so not highly accurate and I rode each bike a week apart, however the 26” bike was quicker on both the downhill, climb and a pedaly farm track!  This was not what I was expecting as in certain sections I was convinced the 29 was quicker. To be absolutely sure I need to ride each bike immediately back to back to try and remove as many variables as possible.

Fun is not always about speed and hard tails are massive fun!!!
So I had all these things buzzing through my head, wheel sizes, data, speed etc, then it hit me, why does speed matter? The magazines are definitely guilty of pushing the ‘it’s faster then it must be better’ angle and this is certainly true for racers but what about the rest of us, the riders that ride for fun? If faster is better, then why ride a hard tail or fat bike, they are still fun, right?

Riding all the wheel sizes have made me realize its about the wheels, its about the bike, the rider and the experiences you have. The bottom line is regardless of wheel size if it is a great bike the wheel size becomes almost irrelevant. I get just as much pleasure out of riding my hard tail as I did out of the full suspension 26/ 650b/ 29er, each bike has different attributes and can be enjoyed for what they are.

If I could pick a dream garage I would probably keep a 26” hard tail, a 650b enduro bike and a 29er trail bike. But to coin a phrase from MBR, just pick a wheel size and just get out and ride…

Monday 1 September 2014

Tech: Transition Giddy Up Link

The first question we get regarding the new 4-bar linkage from Transition is that 'it wont ride like a Transition.' Actually the ride is very much like the Transition you know and love, however with the Giddy Up link improvements have been made by making the suspension more active, especially under braking and all without sacrificing the Transition 'feel'.

This is what Transition say....

"When we set out to design the new family of trail bikes, we wanted to improve our suspension bike pedalling performance, but we didn't want to lose the neutral and comfortable feel that Transition Bikes are known for. No one at Transition wanted a suspension system that felt like it was locking out, or provided any “kick back” in the pedals.

Our Giddy Up link is specifically tuned with a moderate amount of chain growth which is highest at the sag point and decreasing deeper into the travel. Because of this finely tuned wheel path, the new models have a notable increase in traction when climbing, without the rider noticing the chain growth fighting the suspension
movement.

The ride feel of our Giddy Up Link bikes will be familiar for any previous Transition rider, but with a big improvement in suspension performance. Our new models are designed to be active while climbing; increased compression damping or rear shock platforms are not required with the Giddy Up link. The suspension remains free to smooth out the trail, improve traction and control without sacrificing any efficiency. There is no need to think about flipping switches; start your ride with the shock open and leave it there.

With Giddy Up you can focus on the trail, not your remote's, levers or knobs. Just grab your bike, Giddy Up and go."




Eurobike 2014: 2015 Transition gallery

Giddy Up!
The Giddy Up link
Patrol, stealth routing 
Patrol in stealth black
Patrol, link
Patrol in safety orange
Ripcord 24"
Scout in limeade
Scout in limeade
Smuggler in real teal
TR500 in highlighter yellow
TR500
TR500
TR500 in stealth black
TR500

Monday 28 July 2014

QECP Enduro 2014 gallery

On Sunday 27th June I set of to Head Down at Queen Elizabeth Country Park to support the QECP Enduro run and organised by the QECP Collective.

Windwave supported the first and second places of all categories (ex Hard tail) with Morgan Blue and Ice Toolz products.

Congratulations to the team on another slick event and also to all the riders who competed!

Riders briefing
The San Andreas got lots of attention 
Glenroy from team Aston Hill

he didn't crash....

@superdave1066

Phil from PPG Print

prizes time!